Order of the British Empire for his outstanding achievements. On 12 January 1996, his 80th birthday, a celebration concert was given for him by friends and students in the Wigmore Hall. The Brindisi String Quartet, Trevor Pinnock and Anthony Pleeth performed Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. All revenues were donated to the Jacqueline du Pré Multiple Sclerosis Research Fund. William Pleeth lived with Margaret Good in Finchley, North London. He died on 6 April 1999, aged 83, having fought leukemia for four years. He was survived by his wife, his son and daughter and three grandchildren. On 12 January 2000 the William Pleeth Memorial Concert was held at the St John's Church in London. His son Anthony, granddaughter Tatty Theo (both cellists) and his granddaughter Lucy Theo (violinist) performed, together with two of his pupils, Robert Cohen and Colin Carr. Media Pleeth captured some of his thoughts on cello playing in the book Cello, part of the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides. It is based on conversations that Pleeth had with Nona Pyron. Menuhin wrote the introduction and Jacqueline du Pré the preface. The book was published in 1982. Pleeth was 80 when the eight DVDs A Life in Music were recorded in the Britten-Pears School in Snape Maltings in Suffolk. Selma Gokcen, who had studied with Pleeth, produced the recordings. On each DVD Pleeth gives lessons to young cellists. These recordings show his experience of a lifetime, attention to smallest detail and how music came alive in his guidance. Pleeth can be seen and heard on the DVDs that Christopher Nupen made about Jacqueline du Pré: Remembering Jacqueline du Pré, 1994 Jacqueline du Pré: in Portrait, 2004 Jacqueline du Pré: A Celebration, 2008 In the film Hilary and Jackie by Anand Tucker, 1998, based on the life of Jacqueline du Pré from the perspective of her brother and sister, the character of William Pleeth is played by Bill Paterson. Sources William Pleeth: A life in music. Eight cello masterclasses (DVD). William Pleeth (red. Nona Pyron), Cello. Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides, Macdonald, London, 1982. References 1916 births 1999 deaths British classical cellists Jewish British musicians British music educators British classical musicians Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British musicians British people of Polish descent 20th-century cellists